The unofficial spokesman for the American muscle car, Tim Kuniskis, is retiring

News

The unofficial spokesman for the American muscle car, Tim Kuniskis, is retiring

2024-05-18 01:54 Last Updated At：02:01

DETROIT (AP) — Tim Kuniskis, CEO of the Ram and Dodge brands and the unofficial voice of American muscle cars, is retiring after nearly 32 years with Stellantis.

The announcement Friday comes as Stellantis struggles with U.S. sales as it begins the transition from internal combustion to electric vehicles. Through April, its sales were down 14.1% while the industry as a whole saw a 3.1% increase, according to Motorintelligence.com.

For years Kuniskis was the spokesman for high-performance American cars, introducing many powerful models including last year's 1,025 horsepower Challenger SRT Demon 170.

But in March, Kuniskis led the unveiling of two battery-powered versions of the Charger muscle car, while keeping one gas-powered version of the Charger without a big Hemi V8.

Recently Kuniskis was CEO of both the Dodge and Ram brands. He’ll be replaced at Ram by Chris Feuell, who will take on Ram in addition to her duties leading the Chrysler brand.

Matt McAlear will become Dodge brand CEO. He led Dodge sales and has broad automotive experience, the company said in a statement.

Both brands are struggling with Dodge phasing out the old versions of the gas powered Charger and Challenger as it moves to electric vehicles. Dodge sales through April are down more than 17%. The brand also is selling the Hornet small SUV made in Italy, but it hasn't caught on.

Ram sales are down over 29% so far this year as a Michigan factory is retooled to build an updated full-size pickup.

Kuniskis' passion and vision for the Dodge brand will be a loss, but someone else at Stellantis may be able to take over, said S&P Global analyst Stephanie Brinley.

“Dodge muscle car future is going through change, regardless of who is at the helm," Brinley said in an email. “Success will still come to product execution and whether the vision for the Dodge brand aligns with how customers see the brand. It wouldn’t be wise to presume no one else can champion the brand.”

At a March event in Detroit showing off the new electric Chargers, Kuniskis also exhibited a gas-fueled Charger powered by a new 3-liter six-cylinder engine with two turbochargers. A high-output version will have 550 horsepower.

Kuniskis defended keeping the gasoline version and said the electric muscle cars, which will roar like gas-engine vehicles, will emphasize performance over efficiency.

Under normal circumstance, he said, about 17 million vehicles are sold annually in the U.S. “You know what? People need choices,” he said.

Kuniskis said he would expect criticism from environmental groups if Dodge had not come out with electric versions of the Charger.

“It’s designed for performance and it has low range, but it’s still a battery electric vehicle. They’re going to hate on that? Seems kind of odd,” he said.

Globally, Stellantis' first quarter global vehicle shipments fell 10% from a year ago to 1.34 million, and revenue dropped 12% to 41.7 billion euros ($44.8 billion).

The company blamed the revenue dip on lower sales as it manages production and inventory while launching 25 new models this year, including 18 electric vehicles. Chief Financial Officer Natalie Knight said Stellantis believes the new models will bring “materially improved growth and profitability in the second half."

Draisaitl scores late as Oilers beat Ducks 3-2 for 2nd straight win

2025-01-04 13:16 Last Updated At：13:41

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Leon Draisaitl scored the tiebreaking goal late in the third period and the Edmonton Oilers beat the Anaheim Ducks 3-2 on Friday night for their second straight win.

Darnell Nurse had a goal and an assist, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins also scored and Stuart Skinner stopped 27 shots as the Oilers won for the 10th time in 13 games.

Brett Leason and Jackson LaCombe scored for the Ducks, who snapped a three-game winning streak. Lukas Dostal had 23 saves.

Draisaitl scored the go-ahead goal with 1:35 remaining after Edmonton gave up a 2-0 lead midway through the second period.

Anaheim: LaCombe is having a terrific second season with the Ducks. He now has seven goals on the season and 15 points in 31 games. The 23-year-old defenseman is just two points shy of the 17 he had in 71 games as a rookie.

Oilers: Draisaitl extended his points streak to 13 games, tying the longest streak of the season achieved by four different players thus far. During his streak he has 11 goals and 25 points. Draisaitl passed Glenn Anderson for fifth in Oilers franchise history with career 907 points. However, teammate Connor McDavid had his own points streak end at 12.

With the score tied, Zach Hyman sent the puck in front to Draisaitl and he took the pass on his knee and kicked it down to his stick before picking the corner past Dostal for his league-leading 28th goal of the season.

Edmonton defensemen have been somewhat of a surprise in scoring, now accounting for 25 of the Oilers’ 122 goals this season — just one back of league-leading Columbus. Evan Bouchard leads the way with seven, followed by Mattias Ekholm (six), Brett Kulak (five), Nurse (four) and Troy Stecher (three).

Ducks host Tampa Bay on Sunday, and Oilers visit Seattle on Saturday.

AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL